To Be a Titan
by Thunderscourge
Summary: Established to eradicate the remnants of Zeon, the Titans were like any other faction: they had those who wished to serve their cause, and those who wanted to use it to further their own goals, but even among their less principled members they still could feel friendship and love. With different causes within it, just what did it mean to be a Titan? (Jerid x Mouar), Emma, Kamille
1. 1: A Friend's Greeting

"Kacricon!"

The Titan's quartermaster turned around to see a familiar figure making his way towards him. Possessing long blonde hair that seemed to defy gravity, an athletic build that was lithe and tall, and a smug grin that was disappearing in favor of a genuine smile, Jerid Messa had arrived at Jaburo and was ready for duty.

"Jerid, good to see you!" Kacricon greeted his old friend as Jerid finished making his way over. The two exchanged a firm handshake, with both men exhibiting a strong grip even though Kacricon was huskier than his comrade.

"I heard I'd be working with you again, but I thought Jamaican was pulling my leg."

Kacricon laughed as he thought about and then remembered who Jamaican was. He had a reputation among the Titans as a twit whose rise through the Titan ranks few could understand since he only seemed good for hitting his staff and making a fool of himself on television, "Well you better believe it. How's my favorite wannabe ace doing?"

Jerid rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Ha-ha, Kacricon. I've been working on improving myself while you've been, what, counting oranges? If you ever manage to defeat someone with them, let me know."

"Perhaps if we deprive Zeon's remnants of vitamin C we can—" Kacricon shook his head as he re-railed his train of thought, "Never mind, I can't ever tell if you're a smartass or a a dumbass, Jerid. Your mouth says the former, but it also indicates the latter."

"I'll take it as a compliment," Jerid laughed as he gave a light punch to his friend's shoulder. As he did so, he noticed a woman tending to a lightly armored Gundam model Jerid had not seen before. He had not really paid attention to the team's roster after he found out he'd be working with Kacricon, but a third pilot was to serve with them...but was this woman that person? She was wearing a Titan's pilot uniform, but she didn't appear to be anything too special: she was a head shorter than Jerid, who himself was six foot four inches, and she did not possess a "built" frame. Could someone like that be a soldier?

Curious, Jerid motioned over to the woman who was working across the hangar, "Who's the girl?"

Kacricon lowered his voice as he turned and looked over their other teammate. He only knew a bit about her, but from what he had heard she was extremely devoted to the Titan's cause and mission, "Lieutenant Emma Sheen. Word is she's a fanatic...idealistic, even."

"A fanatic, huh?" Jerid smirked, "She any good as a pilot?"

"Compared to us, she's alright, but she was chosen to be a part of our team for a reason. I wouldn't underestimate her."

Jerid nudged his friend in the ribs with an elbow, "Whatever. Between you and me, she won't have much to do. I hear we may get a special assignment if we do well enough here, so I plan on proving myself."

Now it was Kacricon rolling his eyes, taking a hand and pushing Jerid towards his own unattended mobile suit, "We'll see. Now get to work! They don't pay you to stand around."

Jerid stumbled forward from the playful gesture, "Yeah, yeah. You know how to make a friend feel welcome," once he had his footing he turned his head back and waved, "Later Kacricon."

On his way to the RX-78-3 Gundam he had been assigned by fortune Jerid found himself distracted once again, this time by a woman's formal tone.

"Lieutenant Messa?"

Jerid looked over to see that the woman from before had approached him on his way. Looking down at her, both literally and figuratively, Jerid gave her a once over to affirm his previous observation: she was petite, and he was sure he could take her in a fight. He had had more than a few of those with other Titans pilots, especially in the academy. Her chin length dark brown hair would be easy enough to grab if she ever tried acting uppity with him. He was a Titan, and part of that meant showing his strength to anyone who would dare question it.

"You're Emma Sheen, right?"

Emma saluted him, "Correct. I look forward to working with you, Lieutenant."

Jerid pointed to himself with a thumb, his tone haughty as he spoke back, "Just try not to get in my way and you'll do just fine."

Emma turned around to go back to her mobile suit and spoke back with a notable tinge of amusement, "I can say the same for you, Lieutenant."

If she hadn't walked away just then Jerid would have tried to throw his weight around, but he stopped himself and instead grunted.

"I'll show her. Might makes right here. If she's such a fanatic, she better learn that."

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 _ **A/N: A series of short drabbles originating from a Let's Play I am doing of Gihren's Greed.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the review section below! Following/faving will also be greatly appreciated, and I wish you all a happy Valentines day!**_


	2. 2: Animal Instinct

Adel Zeno was panting as he watched the enemy mobile suit disappear before his eyes. They had been using the same GM model he had, a more up-to-date variant than the ones some could find from the One Year War, and so it had been a fair contest between Adel's team of six against the enemy's group of seven. The AEUG pilots had lost two of their team against Yazan moments before, but Adel's group managed to corner the others from this particular unit right as Yazan, Dunkel, and Ramsus made a bloody path through a different group.

Yazan grunted as he watched the last enemy mobile suit from that group disappear, "Damnit, that kid made it so I can't bring my count up to twenty five."

Eyeing the last AEUG member in the area, Yazan twisted his own GM around to begin chasing after it. It was retreating to a point that Yazan would be unable to follow it due to a heavier AEUG presence, so time was of the essence, "Well twenty four will have to do! Ramsus, Dunkel! Coordinate your attacks with me on that last enemy!"

"Roger!" Yazan's wingmates called out.

Yazan had noticed during the battle that this particular unit was moving better than nearly all the others: someone with experience was sitting in the cockpit. All that meant though was that he had to try a little harder to get his kill, which by no means was a bad thing for the psychopath.

With Ramsus and Dunkel racing past the enemy suit at full throttle, Yazan began his assault from the enemy's back.

"Nowhere to hide!"

Yazan's machine gun spewed its ammunition towards its target and for the most part found its mark, with the enemy GM having been distracted by gunfire from its two sides and then front because of Ramsus and Dunkel's coordinated attack.

Over the radio the trio of GM pilots could hear their enemy muttering as they forced their smoking GM towards the evacuation zone, "I can't let Karaba down..."

The name made Yazan raise an eyebrow, "Karaba? That sounds like something Ali would come up with," he shook his head and took aim again, "It's no matter, time to die!"

Gunfire erupted, and the GM was torn apart piece by piece as all three of Yazan's group destroyed it. Given the performance of it prior though, Yazan used his monitor to check and see if he had actually finished the other man: surely enough, someone with a vernier was jetting away from the wreckage and towards an entire force of GM's who were waiting for Yazan's team to make a move.

Cursing his luck, having hoped one of his bullets would have gone through the man inside, Yazan began to pull back. His team was not tired and their suits were not damaged, but they had cut down so many opponents that they were dangerously low on fuel and ammunition. To continue fighting against an entirely new force would be stupid, and despite being uneducated Yazan could tell that much, "You're a tough son of a bitch. Ramsus, Dunkel, we're pulling back. I'll cut him down next time. These AEUG forces are pathetic."

"How many suits did we take down this time?" Ramsus inquired.

His partner Dunkel answered, "Twenty four in total. Hard to really say who got what kills given our coordinated fire."

Yazan laughed at the battle's slaughter, "All the matters is that there are twenty four less of the idiots for us to kill! At this rate we'll burn through their whole force, especially if their leaders are as pathetic as that one."

He had seen the mobile suit direct some of the others, but it wasn't enough to save them from Yazan's brutal efficiency and accuracy.

"Yazan, return to the Alexandria so we can prepare for our next offensive."

The blonde haired monster groaned as he heard Bask's voice. He found the man's brutality refreshing, but he did like throwing his weight around a lot. Yazan was already about to go back, so he didn't need an order to do so.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Don't go leaving without us—I got people to kill!"

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 _ **A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear your thoughts in the review section below!**_


	3. 3: The Red Comet?

_**A/N: Special thanks to The Draigg and tiget2567tre for following the story last chapter!**_

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A former Federation vessel converted into an AEUG craft shook as powerful beam weapons struck its hull. Inside, a pilot wearing sunglasses turned towards the noise and let a surprised noise out.

"The Titans? Here?"

Outside the vessel, three RX-78 model Gundams were racing towards the AEUG craft found above Earth's atmosphere. The one at the lead was the standard colors of the Titans, black and blue, except for some purple left over from its original paint job. Its pilot, Jerid, wasn't a fan of repainting his suits like some others were, and so he had his technicians work more on the actual suit than how it looked.

"Kacricon, with me! Let's show that fool Monsha who's the better team!"

Behind Jerid in a bulkier, more range orientated model of the RX-78, Kacricon smiled at his friend's enthusiasm, "Right!"

Before the mission the two had gotten the chance to meet members of the "Immortal Fourth Team", those being Monsha, Alpha, and Adel, when their team leader Monsha had decided to "put the moves" on Emma Sheen. With the personality of a lech, he was rejected by Emma, and when he did not back off her teammates intervened: not particularly for her, but because Monsha was an embarrassment to the Titans at that moment in the eyes of Jerid and Kacricon. To them, might made right, but nothing could excuse acting like a pervert, especially to someone quite younger than Monsha.

So the two groups, assigned to work together, had a bit of friction in their first deployment as a team. Jerid didn't want to give Monsha the opportunity to outshine him in battle, lest he have to hear about it in countless bragging sessions before their next deployment. As such, hearing the mustached man's voice over the radio bragging mere moments in the battle grated on Jerid's patience.

"We already got four kills! Top _that_ , punk!" the arrogant man's voice then mumbled over the radio, "They just don't make pilots like they used to..."

Gritting his teeth at Monsha's accomplishment, Jerid took aim at the enemy vessel: if he took out the enemy's entire ship, he could counter whatever Monsha could throw at him back on their ship. Destroying the enemy's carrier was quite possibly the highest achievement one could aim for in a battle, since it kept the enemy from resupplying, from retreating, and from receiving aid, making destroying the remaining enemies easier. So focused on catching up with the enemy vessel, Jerid began to leave behind Emma, whose variation of the Gundam was not as fast as his.

"Wait for me, Lieutenant!"

Jerid sneered as he and Kacricon began firing, "You're still in training, right? Leave this to the professionals!"

"You're not used to fighting in space either though!"

She had a point: Jerid felt really odd in his suit without the gravity of Earth weighing down on him. Despite that, he was being given quite the opportunity to learn on his feet because the enemy mobile suits had been distracted by the 4th team after their initial victory over a few old GM's. When Jerid and Kacricon's gunfire slammed into the old Federation battlecruiser they could see some objects emerging from it: their gunfire had struck the launch bay, and now the mobile suits from inside of it were trying to escape to actually fight rather than be slain on the launch deck.

The model was the Rick Dias, an evolution of the One Year War's Rick Dom mobile suit, and it possessed a stellar speed to it. Such was the speed that soon after launching they were already in range for direct combat with Jerid's team, and so he was left to sneer at them rather than his inexperienced teammate.

He was piloting a Gundam, the most notable suit of the One Year War, and he was not going to let some Zeon remnants working under a new name beat him, "Some mobile suit scrambling to face us? We'll show them what the Titans are made of."

Incoming fire from the ship Jerid launched from, itself an evolution of the Pegasus class ship that once housed the original Gundam, forced the Rick Diases to enter a certain zone of space, which Jerid and Kacricon then used to unleash their full arsenals. Some of the Rick Diases were destroyed before they could return fire, while others tried getting in close: one in particular moved with a grace that put Jerid off and made him actually hesitate as he saw it close in.

Fortunately his moment of weakness was mitigated by gunfire from behind him forcing the enemy to change their path. Having caught up, Emma had covered her fellow Lieutenant with gunfire that held two purposes: it would drive back the approaching enemy, and if they were not struck by it their allies behind them would be. Other Rick Diases were damaged with her rifle fire as their ally avoided harm, though it too would become damaged by a shot from Kacricon, whose Gundam had a heavy armament to it at the cost of some durability.

With it now off balance, Jerid lunged in at the suit and slashed through some of its torso with his beam saber. The hit was not enough to destroy the enemy mobile suit, but a follow up hit that removed its weapon arm did convince the enemy to turn tail and run. The Rick Dias turned full throttle and used the chaos of the battle's crossfire to make its escape from Jerid.

"Their coordination is commendable...I have to pull back. There are more important battles to be fought than this."

With their team mopping up the remaining enemy suits in quick fashion, only suffering a few scratches in return, Jerid pumped his fist in his cockpit and called out to his partner.

"Good work Kacricon!"

Kacricon made note of all of the AEUG's destroyed vessels and all those falling back. The battle had been won decisively in the Titan's favor, and not only had they heavily damaged the enemy craft, they had taken out all of its mobile suits, "Hehe, we're just getting started. Not bad for our first time in space, huh?"

Emma's disapproving voice cut into their good cheer, "You two should have waited for the rest of our forces."

"Lay off, Emma. We won, and that's what matters," Jerid groaned, not wanting to be lectured when he was so ready to pat himself on the back.

Their squabble would continue no further because of a voice that shut each of them up instantly: that of Jamitov Hymen, who was aboard the ship they had launched from.

"Lieutenants, you performed quite admirably today. I hear that the Red Comet, Char Aznable, was among our enemies. We haven't confirmed this of course, but you possess potential if you managed to combat him and come out on top."

Emma gawked as she listened to her faction's leader speak, "Supreme Leader Jamitov..."

Jamitov continued to speak, some pride in his voice as he addressed his soldiers, "This operation was a test to screen candidates for a special project at Green Noa One. Return to our hangar and you will be given the details."

"T-thank you, sir! It is an honor, sir!" Jerid replied before the communication line went dead. Kacricon snickered at how obedient and in-awe his friend became at the sound of their leader, but then again Jerid was a lot like Emma in that he believed in the Titan's philosophy...their practiced philosophy of might makes right, of ruling through strength, rather than just their goal of defeating the Zeon remnants. While protecting the Earth was all well and good, there was more to it than that for many Titans.

Emma sat back in her cockpit as she thought about what just happened, "Wow...to receive praise from Supreme Leader Jamitov himself..."

As if possessed, Jerid snapped out of his reverie and began to laugh uproariously. Thinking about what Jamitov just said, he had just fought Char Aznable, the Red Comet himself, and defeated him so quickly the man had not even been able to truly react. Who else in the entire Earth sphere could make such a claim? Monsha would never be able to have a leg up on him now!

"Drinks are on me!"

Seconding the motion, Kacricon joined in the laughter over the radio, "I'll 'requisition' enough to make our heads spin!"

Less sour than before, Emma still was a bit hesitant to jump on the same bandwagon as the other two, "Shouldn't we refrain from ingesting too much alcohol, Lieutenants? We do have duties tomorrow."

Jerid rolled his eyes as he calmed his laughter, "Come on Sheen, even you did alright. We're just going to have a little fun, so drop the prim and proper act."

Having helped defeat Char Aznable...Emma smiled to herself. Perhaps she could indulge herself a little. She had set up Jerid's battle with Char after all, if he was the pilot of that mobile suit that outperformed all the others.

"Oh all right. A little won't hurt."

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 _ **A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy! When this happened during the playthrough for my Gihren's Greed Let's Play I was surprised, but I can't complain! Hope to hear your thoughts in the review section below, and any support you show with favorite/follows would be much appreciated!**_


	4. 4: A First and Final Toast

**_A/N: Special thanks to flayjuinor15 for favoriting the story for favoriting the story last chapter, and I hope everyone will enjoy and leave their thoughts in the reviews below! This one is a bit more...comedic than the others so far, so enjoy the change in tone!  
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A surprising sight met Emma as she stepped into one of her ship's locker rooms after returning from her first space mission with Jerid and Kacricon. While they were approaching the Earth's atmosphere and were beginning to feel the effects of gravity they had been given congratulations by the captain of their ship Gady, with the captain passing along the approval of the leader of the Titans himself, Jamitov Hymen.

Jerid and Kacricon were already drunk.

She had only been away from them for less than two hours, but the two men were completely plastered and were using one another to stand up. They were fumbling with what Emma recognized as a camera when she decided to help them out and fix the stand they were putting it on. They obviously, in their drunken state, wanted a picture, and why not? They had good reason to celebrate, and Emma was slightly jealous that the men were already enjoying themselves so much.

The two gave a drunken thanks to Emma as she did in moments which had been taking them entire minutes to do. Once the camera was set up, Jerid pressed some buttons on it and he and Kacricon moved to be in its view, still helping one another stand up.

Emma rolled her eyes as she moved to join them in the photo, figuring that she was a part of the team too. With Jerid in the middle, Kacricon to his right, and Emma to his left, they were ready...but the camera didn't flash. Jerid had done its settings wrong and so it was waiting on a timer to actually go off. While Emma began to think about what could be wrong with it, she felt a hand put something on her head.

"Kacricon, what are you doing?"

Her far taller comrade laughed as he finished putting on the hat Emma liked to wear while on duty, "You look good in the hat!"

Emma smiled at him as Jerid put his arms around them both. The two men had certainly consumed a lot of alcohol, as normally neither of them would be this touchy-feely, and it was actually kind of fun to see for Emma. She was the serious one of the group, but they were both professional soldiers too and seeing them without their normal restraints made for a good time.

"Just how much did you two drink before I got here?"

The camera made a beeping noise, signalling that it was about to do its job.

"Picture time!" Jerid smiled brightly at the camera and pulled the other two in closer.

Emma realized just after the camera took the photo that Jerid was about to fall over. His weight was leaning backwards and was starting to pull her and Kacricon with him.

"Picture—Jerid, are you okay?"

Emma did her best to keep him from just dropping painfully on the ground, but Jerid did end up laying on his back and laughing as he dragged Kacricon and Emma down with him. Emma managed to keep from falling completely to the ground, instead in a kneeling position as she spun around mid-fall. Kacricon, able to handle the copious amounts of alcohol he drank a bit better than his leaner friend, slowly went about getting himself off the ground. Jerid had forgotten to let go of him, making it far more difficult than it otherwise would be, but eventually he sat back up and joined Jerid in drunken laughter.

"You two...hic...are my...hic...Least hated people...so I wanna picture..." Jerid mumbled from the floor, earning a smile from the previously embarrassed and bemused Emma. Jerid was an arrogant jerk, but he seemed to appreciate his allies and friends.

Kacricon snickered as he grabbed Emma's fallen hat and tossed it over Jerid's head, it landing over Jerid's eyes as Jerid passed out from his drinking binge, "He's gonna have quite the hangover tomorrow. It's not every day you take down the Red Comet!"

Emma began to nod at the sentiment until she realized that an assortment of wine bottles were floating in the room, with Emma's face contorting in disapproval, "Did you guys even leave any for me?"

"...maybe?"

"Kacricon!" Emma chided, earning a shrug from Kacricon.

"What? I could only take so much without anyone knowing, and you were taking forever!"

Emma moved to grab one bottle, staring down into it and realizing that it was completely dry. Her partners had certainly succeeded in celebrating in their own way...

"Unbelievable..."

Emma turned to chastise Kacricon when she realized that one of the bottles in the room was completely untouched. It was floating by Jerid's head, risking falling down and breaking on his head if they were to get any closed to Earth and its gravity. They were at a nice medium that the three Earth born pilots were capable of acting as they might on Earth and move relatively unencumbered, with movements such as Jerid falling back resulting him going to the ground, but also with the tinge of weightlessness that made them able to experience the phenomena of floating objects. A little bit in either direction and their ship would demonstrate one or the other.

Intent on saving Jerid's face from a falling wine bottle and also intent on drinking it herself, Emma pushed herself off a surface to draw closer to it.

"Wait, here's an unopened bottle—" Kacricon noted, having also been looking around for one just having looked further from where he was situated.

His words seemed to stir Jerid, who removed the hat obstructing his face. Jerid looked up and saw a wine bottle, and before Kacricon or Emma could snatch it he had taken it himself and sprung to his feet, laughing as he opened it and began to drink straight from the source.

"Jerid, give it back! That's for Emma and I—Jerid!"

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After Kacricon and Emma managed to get the last bottle from Jerid and they shared what little remained, Kacricon saw to getting his friend back to his room since Jerid was in no state to go on his own. Kacricon was barely functioning as well, but while Jerid was more of a silly drunk who wore himself out, Kacricon was more of a talkative drunk and had yet to talk someone's ear off.

"Come on Jerid, time to go to bed."

Fortunately, the ninety percent passed out Jerid made a good listener as Kacricon stumbled down the ship's hallway with his friend hanging off him.

Jerid was not completely out, though he was in no way an active participant of the conversation, instead mumbling, "Gundam...Char...power...maximum..."

"I'm surprised you're not dead with how much you drank. You're quite the heavyweight for such a slim guy!" Kacricon laughed.

Once his small chortle ended Kacricon paused and his mind went down a different route, "Hey, I know you won't remember this, but when we get back to Earth there's a girl I want to marry. Amelia. You better be my best man, okay?"

"I'm...the best...around...nobody...gonna..."

Kacricon now saw why Jerid drank so little. His friend likely knew how he lost anything resembling dignity, "Best at getting drunk, maybe. But maybe we'll both be Captains by then with how things are looking for us! I mean testing a new model of Gundam as a favor to Lord Jamitov? What more could we ask for?...You think I'll look good in a Captain's uniform?"

They reached their room when Kacricon realized Jerid had finally stopped mumbling, and that he no longer was standing under his own power.

"Jerid?...oh, good you're finally asleep."

Kacricon helped Jerid inside and helped him to his bed, only for him to lose grip of Jerid halfway and for Jerid to almost hit his head on a desk. Kacricon's sluggish reaction to Jerid's fall was just in time, as he managed to grip Jerid and pull him over onto his bed. Jerid collapsed on his bunk, at which point Kacricon's own intense alcohol consumption caught up with him. The semi-strenuous effort he just went through made him start to feel light-headed.

"I won't envy you tomorrow. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

When a concerned Emma decided to check up on her teammates and see if they got back to their room alright, she found Jerid half on his bed and Kacricon passed out on the floor.

"Hey, Kacricon, Jerid, you two make it back alright?" she said on the way in, only to pause and sigh when she found what had happened to them.

"Okay Emma, time to lift a giant man off the floor and drag him to his bunk. How difficult can that be?"

She bent down and began to pull Kacricon up off the ground, though it was difficult for her since he was so much larger than her.

"Kacricon, you should...burn...a few...pounds—"

The male pilot mumbled something in his sleep as Emma moved him to be supported by her own body like he had supported Jerid earlier.

"Amelia..."

His arm that had been moved by Emma to be going over her far shoulder moved, and Emma gasped for a moment before twisting around so she could face Kacricon.

A slap with such power that even the passed out Jerid was roused by its sound was wrought upon Kacricon's unfortunate face.

"—bad Kacricon! No sleep groping!"

"YOW! Why'd you hit me?!" Kacricon yelped, jolted awake by the pain permeating through his cheek.

Emma was embarrassed at the time, but later would come to regret having filed reports instead of joining them earlier on in the celebration. Her team could be a bit rough around the edges, but they were a far cry from what she would experience under the leadership of Bask Om.

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 ** _A/N: A follow up, more comedic/slice of life bit to the Char encounter. Hope you all enjoyed, and I hope to hear from you in the reviews below! If you enjoyed, please support the story by following/favoriting, and if you want to see more Gundam content I have a major story "All Hail Zeon" out that you may enjoy as well!_**


	5. 5: Captain's Orders

_**A/N: Thank you to those who have supported this story since its last update. Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to it, I have a lot more to upload and will be doing so as I work through my queue of stuff to upload here from the months I've been missing.**_

 _ **As always, your thoughts are appreciated and I hope you hear your thoughts in the reviews below! Thank you for reading!**_

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"Don't feel bad Jerid. It's not your fault you had to fight a Gundam in a Hizack, or that they lied about the bomb."

Kacricon patted his friend on the shoulder as Jerid leaned on the room's doorway. Kacricon and another Lieutenant were suiting up for a mission, but since Emma had been put in charge of it she had decided to change the crew roster for some reason unknown to the others. Jerid was sitting out on the mission to capture one of the Argama's new suits, even though he was the best pilot of all those on the Alexandria.

Jerid crossed his arms and looked away from his friend, "Yeah, I know. I suppose I should sit this one out, but I wish I could try and regain my honor. To have my suit damaged by a kid…"

Kacricon smiled brightly at Jerid, having decided that moping around didn't suit the blonde, "You'll get your chance. There's no way they'd just waste an ace such as yourself."

Despite his self-pity, Jerid found himself appreciative of the compliments and support paid to him. He gave a small smile back before uncrossing his arms and holding a hand out to Kacricon, "Thanks. If you guys need anything, let me know."

"Of course. Thanks for the offer," the quartermaster and pilot responded as he took Jerid's hand and shook it.

Using his grip on Kacricon, Jerid pulled him in a little closer so he could whisper something to him that the other Lieutenant in the changing room could not hear, "Hey, Kacricon, do you think Emma been acting strangely since the mission?"

Kacricon thought for a moment before nodding, "I don't think she liked Bask using hostages, or how you…"

Jerid held his hands up defensively, "I know, I know. I didn't mean to, okay?"

Sensing that it was a sensitive topic, Kacricon decided to let it go for now. Jerid hadn't meant to kill a civilian, but Bask had tricked him into doing it, so it probably was sitting at a little unease for Jerid's honor bound mind…even if the civilian was the mother of someone Jerid hated, "Anyways, I have to get ready or Emma will never let me hear the end of it. We'll talk later."

Jerid nodded and took his leave, deciding to go to the mobile suit deck. Kacricon went back to preparing for the mission, glad that they now had all three Mark-II's back so that he could pilot one. They were superb machines, and the better his machine, the better he could perform in the field. If he took risks he'd be safer, and he had no intention of dying. Not when he wanted to get back to Earth and his lover, Amelia.

"Aren't you ready yet?"

Kacricon was just finishing his preparations when he heard Emma's chastising voice from the doorway.

"Keep your shirt on," he complained before grumbling under his breath, "Just because you're team leader…"

"Hurry up!"

Kacricon turned around and saw that she had two people with her…one of which was Kamille Bidan, the kid who punched Jerid the other day, and the kid who just lost his mother. The other was Kamille's father, but weren't they supposed to be under supervision? Kamille had joined the AEUG, and his father was serving as a hostage.

"What's going on?" Kacricon questioned, not really comfortable with the situation.

Emma gave a quick shove of one of the civilians towards Kacricon, her voice holding a weird intonation, "Beats me, Captain's orders."

The civilian, Kamille, floated at first after her shove…before lunging at Kacricon in the remaining distance and punching him straight in the bridge of the nose.

While Kamille was only a seventeen year old, there was still a large amount of force behind his strike due to years of martial arts training, and Kacricon was knocked out as soon as he realized he was being attacked.


	6. 6: Kacricon and Lila

"I noticed you are skilled at coordinated attacks with that partner of yours. That is something you should make sure you don't lose."

Jerid gave a beaming smirk to the woman sitting across from him in the Alexandria's mess hall. She was normally very critical, so to hear any form of praise made him proud of having earned it.

"Whenever Kacricon and I work side by side we're far more effective," Jerid explained, leaning over his food so that he was closer to the woman. He still had bruises from where she had struck him the other day, but they and his pride no longer bothered him: the One Year War veteran named Lila had humbled him after he attacked her, and now she was serving as a mentor to him. Eager to adapt to space and become a true ace, Jerid was very interested in hearing whatever she had to say, and he had already noticed a marked increase in his perception on the battlefield since she had started helping him.

Lila smirked back as she sat back in her seat. The two were the only ones at their table, and for the most part the area was deserted, giving them some degree of privacy, "Of course you are. Humans haven't all become Newtypes yet, and we can only see so much with our eyes. With the proper maneuvers you can even play tricks on your enemy's mind, making victory all that much easier."

She noticed a man of Jerid's height approach them and nonchalantly take a seat next to Jerid, placing a meal tray down as he gave Jerid a tap on the shoulder.

"Hey Jerid," the man turned to Lila and gave a polite smile, "I take it you're Lila?"

Lila raised her eyebrows at how he was able to pin her name, "Am I that well known?"

Kacricon smirked as he glanced back to Jerid, whose face flushed red as his best friend spoke, "You kicked Jerid's ass the other day, right? Both physically and verbally. We Titans tend to remember that," he paused before looking around the room and seeing no-one else from Lila's unit, "Also, you're the only Earth Federation soldier who is willing to sit with us, so call it an educated guess."

Embarrassed by his friend, Jerid balled his fists and glared down at the table, "Kacricon…"

The name brought Lila back to the conversation she had been having with Jerid, and she returned the man's smile.

"So you must be Jerid's wingmate. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I hear you've taken Jerid under your wing. See if you can do something about that ego of his, okay?" Kacricon laughed, bringing a hand to pat Jerid on the back.

Jerid turned in his seat and leveled a fist at his friend, "Kacricon, I haven't kicked your ass since the academy. Want to reminisce?"

He was stopped from carrying through his threat by a hand gripping his arm. Jerid looked to the side to see that Lila was giving his a reprimanding stare.

"Not every slight needs to be met with violence, Jerid. If you want to prove yourself better than him, don't rise to his taunt. You are arrogant, but we're making progress."

Jerid frowned as he backed off Kacricon, his voice morphing from anger into an indignant, pouting tone, "I know I'm the best pilot on the Alexandria, is there anything wrong with taking pride in that?"

Lila let go of him and shook her head before smiling to her pupil, "No, but if you throw your weight around on every issue you'll lose balance and lose track of your goals."

Having actually been worried for a moment that Jerid was going to fight him, Kacricon took a deep breath in before chiming in with his own thoughts, "She's right you know. I was only joking around."

"You guys…" Jerid let his voice trail off as he realized he had two people who both cared enough about him to try and help him become better...a better soldier, and a better person. While he didn't particularly care to do the latter on his own, he would do so if it meant receiving Lila's approval. Kacricon smiled gently at his friend as he saw Jerid become lost in looking at Lila, recognizing that Jerid was beginning to feel about the woman the same way he felt about his own lover.

"What is she doing in our mess hall? Don't they teach you Federation forces anything?"

The three pilots turned around to see that Jamaican was standing in the doorway. As the commanding officer, they could not argue with him in any true sense, so the three froze up instead of actually reacting to his statement. Lila began to stand up until Jerid took her arm, his voice a near whisper as he glared at the commander.

"Jamaican…"

Not wanting to get Jerid in trouble with his direct superior, Lila still stood up and brushed his arm off.

"I'll go. I'll see you later, Jerid."

Jamaican smirked as he let Lila pass him and leave, causing him to miss Jerid's dejected look as he saw her walk out.

"Lila…"

Looking back to Jerid and Kacricon, Jamaican sent them a glare that was meant to be menacing but did not truly inspire fear in either.

"You two aren't here to waste time. Eat and get back to work."

Jerid balled his fists beneath the table. Some day he would make that smug man work for him...someday he would give him the orders, and not the other way around.

When he ruled the Titans, perhaps he could even force Jamaican's resignation. The man was a fool and hardly officer material, so removing him would only make their organization stronger.


End file.
